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| Jake the Cat |
Topic this week: Author behavior tips for social media.
Rather than offer a list of tips, I’m going to explain my
own approach to social media because as with anything else about being an
author, no one way works for every single person.
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| DepositPhoto |
The primary directive I keep firmly in mind is why I’m on
social media in the first place. It’s because Veronica Scott is an author, who
wants to connect with other authors and readers and enjoy conversation with
these and other interesting people. I didn’t start up my various social media
accounts for a personal reason like staying in touch with my high school
graduating class (although I do). I did not and do not share much in the way of
personal details and photos and etc., of my life online. Pictures of Jake the Cat are okay. No, they're mandatory!
I don’t discuss my politics or any of the other subjects my
Mother always said to avoid when in company. I have strong opinions and I will
voice them to you if you’re here in my personal everyday life. I vote, I donate, I take action, I’m involved,
but not on social media because – going back to point one – that’s not what
brought me to twitter or Facebook.
I keep firmly in my head the fact once an item is put out on
the internet, it NEVER goes away.
I do my best to remember that humor and sarcasm may not transmit very well in a text, tweet or post,
and to be careful when tempted to quickly send a flippant response (or a heated
one).
I try to stay out of the many mini, micro and macro dramas of the
author world.
If it’s something I have to discuss or take action in
regards to, I do it offline.
I keep firmly in mind that in a large group of thousands of
people on Facebook, one truly never knows who is a member, who is a friend of
who else, or an enemy of who else, who might be grabbing screen shots and
sharing them – nothing is private, nothing can truly be held confidential on a
social media platform. Even a private group is never truly private.
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I keep in mind that there’s no way to go behind the screen
and make sure everyone is actually who or what they claim to be. I accept
people at face value BUT I maintain an awareness of how easy it is to put up a
fake identity. Bots and scammers are everywhere, sadly.
I’m not the “mother of the internet” so it’s not my job to
point out the error of their ways to folks who aren’t going to listen to me
anyway because I don’t believe you can change a person’s mind by arguing with
them on social media. If someone asks for an opinion (and seems as if they’re
truly open to feedback, on a blurb or a cover for example, not just fishing for
compliments) and I have something to add to the discussion, I may weigh in or I
may not.
I also don’t overshare (I hope) about my books. I regard myself
as a content curator and I like to tweet and share interesting tidbits and
articles about writing, science fiction, science, movies, art, TV, books,
travel, animals, military and veterans’ concerns, space travel, blingy
earrings, cats – a wide range of things I’m fascinated by. I do a certain
amount of retweeting book news from my author friends. I like to be supportive
to others and I really appreciate their help.
I interact with readers about my books and other scifi
romance or fantasy books and that’s fun. I always stay on the positive side
though.
I do talk about my writing and my new releases and share
snippets (usually on the weekly hashtags like #Bookqw or #SciFiFri) but it’s
not my only reason for being at the social media party. I enjoy conversation
with my friends in the social media world. I really loved the Sunday afternoon
#rwchat on twitter (which sadly disbanded earlier this year) because it was a
good chance to ‘talk’ with other writers and share experiences and suggestions.
I’ve tried new platforms on occasion but pretty much I’ve
settled on twitter as my favorite, FB a close second and Instagram as one I’m
working on utilizing more. I’m most comfortable on those three for now.
Social media helps me keep up on breaking news and trending topics...
In previous weeks we’ve discussed how easy it is to spend
too much time online so I try to remember that as well but some days I’m just
having too much fun, or I’m too appalled to walk away or I just feel like ‘faffing’
(a useful word my author friends in Australia taught me), so I stay.
So that’s me, doing what I do. Hope to see you online!
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/vscotttheauthor
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/VeronicaScottAuthor/
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